A short reflection on cracked pavements, civic pride, and where the real urban planning wars are fought.
There are many ways to measure the health of a city. Some count green spaces. Others, bike lanes. A few, more optimistically, count start-ups per square metre. But if you ask me, the real test lies in something far more humble: the presence of uncollected dog poo.
I learned this not in theory, but in practice on a grey morning, back when we lived in Luxembourg’s second largest city. Our expat neighbour, who lived in the same quartier as we at the time, a man of quiet intensity and almost feral civic pride, was known to rise at 5:30 a.m. to sit in his car in total silence. He wasn’t meditating. He was waiting. For a specific woman. With a specific dog. And a very specific agenda involving his doorstep.
This wasn’t personal. It was territorial. The battle for public space had begun.
You see, dog poo isn't just waste. It’s a message. A declaration. Sometimes defiance, sometimes neglect, occasionally revenge. But always a form of interaction with the built environment.
City signage may say "Bienvenue!" but a turd on the pavement says, "No one cares." It tells you something about where you are, and more importantly, who holds power there. Because wherever dog poo accumulates, someone has stopped believing that space belongs to anyone or that anyone is watching.
The irony is, we design cities for movement, beauty, and efficiency, but they are negotiated on a much more primal level. We think of public space as grand piazzas and modernist parks. But it’s also cracked pavements, bin placement, and the choreography of dog owners ducking behind hedges when they think no one’s looking.
There is dignity in clean pavements. Not because it's hygienic, but because it means someone still gives a damn.
The real battle for public space? It's not being fought at urban planning conferences or in 3D renderings of future eco-districts. It’s happening quietly, messily, just outside your front door.
And sometimes it starts with a turd.